Tag Archives: #backpacking

So if you couldn’t tell from previous posts, one of the things I like about camping is the outdoor cooking. And that includes backpacking. I’m all for lightweight, believe me, but not at the expense of MAH BELLAH! 🙂

So this week’s shiny of the week is my Jetboil. I’ve had one for several years now, and it is one of my favorite pieces of gear. Originally a backpacking buddy got the Jetboil PCS [Personal Cooking System] and I bought an extra cup for it. But then I got a great deal on the GCS [Group Cooking System] (the version with the 1.5 liter pot) so I picked that up. I am a huge fan. It is relatively lighweight, packs down pretty small, and is well designed. And it boils water LIKE A BOSS! 1 cup of water boiled in under 90 seconds, that’s insane! And also pretty fuel efficient. I’ve been able to do a 4-day, 50-mile trek on the AT through part of the Smokies and only used one tank of fuel…actually less than one tank as it lasted a couple more trips after that as well!

Okay sure, it isn’t superlight. You want to worry about superlight, make your own alcohol stove with a soda can. I can deal with the extra weight to get the performance I need.

The one thing that it has done is made me rethink how I cook when I’m on the trail. Cleanup on a jetboil when you’re boiling water is a snap, and if you’re just reheating something it doesn’t take much more work either. If you’re doing some serious cooking though, just like any backpacking stove it will take longer to clean than just heating.

So I tend to plan my meals based around foods that will only need heating, not cooking, when on the trail. What’s the difference? Well, a Lipton Rice & Sauce needs cooked. But instant mashed potatoes just need heated. And they’re much easier to clean up. Some items that get cooked, mostly your soups (like ramen) are pretty easy on the cleanup too, but if you’re getting into sauces that thicken and can stick/burn onto the pot, that’s another story. As you could guess by my Shiny of the Week for last week, I’m not a fan of cleaning up after meals so anything I can do through planning and preparation to reduce cleaning, I’m all for that!

I’ve used the small folding stoves with the trioxane fuel tabs, and cooking over a campfire, and been able to try out other backpacking stoves over the years. But I really like the Jetboil best.

Now that Jon is about to cross over to a Troop and start backpacking more on his own, he’s going to need a new stove. I’m considering giving him my PCS and buying one of the new Jetboil Flash systems…that wouldnt’ be wrong, would it?